CHRC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

How CHRC Scheduling Actually Works

Candidates searching for "CHRC exam dates" often expect a fixed calendar of national testing days, the way some credentials publish two or three sittings a year. For Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance (CHRC), issued by the independent Compliance Certification Board (CCB) and promoted through the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), the scheduling picture is different. The practical reality is that your "date" is something you assemble from three moving parts: your eligibility status, the delivery format you choose, and the availability of a seat through the testing provider, PSI.

This article walks through each of those parts so you can work backward from a target date. If you are still deciding whether you qualify, start with our guide to CHRC requirements, eligibility, and prerequisites, because the scheduling steps below only matter once your application can be approved.

Eligibility Comes Before Any Date

You cannot meaningfully pick a CHRC exam date until your application is eligible, because the clock on your CEUs and work experience is measured against the exam. The issuer's published prerequisites are:

• Work experience: one year in a full-time compliance position, or 1,500 hours of direct compliance duties in the two years before you apply, with the duties related to the CHRC detailed content outline.
• Continuing education: 20 CCB-approved CEUs earned in the 12 months before the exam, with at least 10 of them live.
• Accredited-university pathway: per the current FAQ and the January 29, 2026 support article on work experience and CEU requirements, this pathway fulfills the work-experience requirement for 24 months and the CEU requirement for 12 months.

No separate degree requirement or reference requirement was verified in the sources reviewed.

Three Ways to Sit: Test Center, Remote, Paper at Events

The format you choose largely determines how flexible your date can be. PSI administers the exam in three modes:

The exam is closed book, with reference materials and personal electronic devices restricted under the proctoring rules specific to each delivery mode. An on-screen calculator was not verified, and the format is not described as adaptive in the sources reviewed. The exam is offered in English only.

Choosing between remote and test center

Remote proctoring removes travel but shifts the burden onto you: a compliant room, a stable connection, and a clean desk. If your home or office cannot reliably meet those conditions, a test center is the lower-risk choice even if the date is a little less convenient. Paper administration at HCCA/SCCE events can suit candidates already attending a conference, but because it is event-bound, it is the least flexible option for hitting a specific deadline.

Fees, Timing, and the January 2027 Change

Because fees changed on a published schedule, your exam date can directly affect what you pay. Current official figures:

The fee page also lists a $75 non-refundable application amount, but no additional $75 is added on top of the published initial totals above. The January 2027 figures are future rates, not October 2026 prices. If you are comfortable with your readiness and your eligibility paperwork is in order, applying before the transition saves $25 on the initial application. That is a modest saving, so it should not push you into sitting before you are prepared; a $75 re-exam is cheaper than a rushed attempt that wastes a seat, but a strong first attempt is cheaper still.

For the full picture, including membership considerations and renewal costs, see our CHRC certification cost breakdown. Note that some third-party pages still cite older initial-exam fees; the official fee schedule governs.

The 12-Month CEU Window and Your Exam Date

The most common scheduling mistake is treating CEUs as a one-time box to tick. The 20 CCB-approved CEUs (at least 10 live) must fall in the 12 months before the exam. That means your CEU collection and your exam date are linked in both directions:

• Start too early and your earliest CEUs may age out of the 12-month window before you sit.
• Delay your exam after earning CEUs and the same thing happens.
• Initial-exam CEUs do not carry forward into your first renewal period, so they are not "banked" for later.

The live requirement matters for planning. Live CEUs come from events you must attend on their schedule, so they are the scarce resource. Map out your live opportunities first, then place the exam date shortly after the last one is complete. Note that HCCA Research Academies are not exam-preparation classes, though they may still generate relevant CEUs; do not count on them as your study plan.

Re-Exam Planning

Eligible re-exams cost $75. The sources reviewed did not verify a specific waiting period or annual attempt limit, so confirm those details with CCB at the time you apply rather than relying on third-party summaries. What you can plan for is the CEU window: if a retake pushes you beyond 12 months from your qualifying CEUs, those credits may no longer satisfy the requirement. Build that possibility into your first date by leaving some slack before your CEUs expire.

A pass is determined by an Angoff-established standard applied to the 100 scored questions. A fixed numerical cut score was not publicly verified, and the pass rate is not disclosed in the official materials located. For what is and is not known, see our explainers on the CHRC passing score and the CHRC pass rate.

Building a Domain Calendar Around Your Date

Once your date is set, the highest-value use of the remaining weeks is allocating time in proportion to how the exam is weighted. The seven domains of the detailed content outline, with percentages equal to published item counts out of 100 scored questions, are:

The outline sits on pages 22 to 24 of the CHRC Candidate Handbook's detailed content outline. The revision or effective year of the live PDF could not be verified during review, so check the current version on the official outline page. For a deeper domain-by-domain treatment, see our complete guide to the seven CHRC content areas.

This sequencing is deliberate: the two heaviest domains together account for 38% of scored items, so they get the longest runway. Use the CHRC practice tests on our main site to check weak domains before the final week. HCCA states there is no official exam study guide; its public sample questions and candidate-only 50-question practice exam are the preparation resources it points to. Our CHRC study guide shows how to combine them with independent materials.

What the Exam Looks Like on the Day

The exam contains 120 multiple-choice questions in two hours. Of these, 100 are scored and 20 are unidentified, unscored pretest questions, so you cannot tell which items count. Treat every question as scored. The number of answer choices per question was not verified for the current handbook, so do not assume a specific count from other credentials.

Questions on this exam lean toward applied judgment in research settings: deciding how to respond to an audit finding, how a report should be routed, or what a corrective action should address. Expect topics such as research billing coverage analysis, grant compliance, and the differing jurisdictions of the agencies in the outline. That applied style is why timed scenario practice matters more than memorizing definitions; see how hard the CHRC exam really is for what candidates tend to find challenging.

After the Exam: Validity and Renewal Dates

Your certification is valid for two years. Renewal requires 40 CCB CEUs earned in that renewal period, with at least 20 live, plus an application, attestations, and the renewal fee: $145 for members or $265 for non-members under the current fee schedule. Older indexed handbook text shows $125 and $245; the current fee and FAQ pages take precedence. From January 1, 2027, renewal fees rise to $155 member and $275 non-member.

Excess CEUs do not carry into the next period, so spread your learning across the two years rather than front-loading it. If you are weighing the long-term return of all this, our analysis of whether the CHRC is worth it addresses that honestly, including the fact that a CHRC-specific salary premium has not been verified.

Frequently Asked Questions